How many 1911 magazines is enough? Just one more … especially if you’re carrying one of the more compact-sized 1911s in 9mm. This isn’t a kind-of-handgun or ammunition-capacity argument. 8+1 rounds of 9mm is one or two more than some single-stack nines out there. The point, however, is to carry a reload — at least one and maybe two. And the thing with 1911 magazines is they’re thin and easy to carry concealed.
Maybe your 9mm 1911 shipped with only one magazine. Hopefully it came with two or more. Either way, consider adding one or two additional magazines. Get them direct from the manufacturer or get them from Mec-Gar. Put two on a weak-side, belt-slide double-mag holster and/or put one in your weak-side front pocket (with nothing else). On the belt-slide holster, they’ll help balance out your carry rig if your gun is holstered on your strong side. 9mm 1911 magazines are super thin and fairly light so they conceal and carry very easily.
If you wonder about the quality of aftermarket magazines, you won’t need to worry about Mec-Gar. I’ve used both the Compact/Officer-sized 9mm 1911 magazines, in both blued and stainless, during numerous range sessions. Two of the actual magazines I use are in the picture above. Left to right: Mec-Gar Nickel, Mec-Gar Blued and, for comparison, a Nighthawk Custom T4 mag. The Mec-Gars are perfectly interchangeable with the Nighthawk mag; the gun knows no difference and all rounds feed, fire and eject reliably.
As for using nickel vs. blued, there are a few lines of thought on this: Generally, nickel may be less prone to oxidizing and a bit more smooth than blued. As for the oxidizing, basic gun care demands you take care of your magazines as well as you take care of your guns, so that really shouldn’t be a problem no matter what finish you choose. As for more smooth, I guess that’s more a matter of personal preference. Probably more important to some people is aesthetics — namely, the magazine color matching the gun color. Either way, Mec-Gar has you covered.
Mec-Gar’s 1911 Officer/Compact offerings include a nickel, 9mm, eight-round magazine for $27.90 and a blued, 9mm, eight-round magazine for $25.25. Both feature a heat-treated, carbon steel tube, music wire spring, steel follower and welded butt-plate. Load, fire, eject and reload. They work perfectly, which shouldn’t be surprising. Mec-Gar manufacturers magazines (100,000,000 and counting) for many firearms brands, something the company has been doing for over 50 years.
Not only can you pick up a couple extra magazines for your 9mm Officer/Compact 1911, you can get magazines for just about any other gun you have in your stable. Because how many magazines is enough? Just one more.
More info at: www.mec-gar.com
